How to annotate a book

Choose your tools

You need very little:

• A pencil or a fine pen that does not bleed through thin pages.
• A highlighter, if you like color. Test it on the last blank page first.
• Sticky tabs or small sticky notes, if you would rather not write in the book at all, or if it is borrowed.

Library books and books you plan to lend should stay unmarked. Tabs and sticky notes come out without a trace.

Make a small key

Marks are only useful if you know later what they meant. Decide on three or four kinds before you start, for example:

• a line under words worth quoting;
• a question mark next to something you do not understand or disagree with;
• a star next to an idea you want to use;
• a small note in the margin for your own reaction.

If you use colors, give each one a job and write the key on your bookmark or inside the cover.

Mark less than you want to

The most common beginner mistake is marking everything. After fifty pages every paragraph is underlined, and nothing stands out anymore. A good test: would you want to find this passage again in a year? If not, keep reading.

Write a few words, not just lines

An underline says “this matters”. A few words in the margin say why: “same as chapter 2”, “I don’t buy this”, “my sister would love this”. Those words are what you will be glad to find later.

Go back after each chapter

Read with a pencil in hand, but keep marks quick while you read. At the end of a chapter, look back at what you marked, turn the best ones into a short note and add a tab to the pages you will want to revisit. Recalling a chapter this way also helps you remember it; the guide on how to remember what you read explains why.

Keep the best passages outside the book

Marks stay in the book, and the book goes back on the shelf or to the library. Copy the passages you care about most into notes, with the page number, so you can find and search them without the book in front of you.

In Pagetime, photograph a page or choose a screenshot from your photo library. Pagetime recognizes the text on your phone, you select the passage you marked and check it before saving it as a Quote with its page. Your margin note fits a Thought. While the reading timer runs, the note button on the lock screen (on iPhone, also in the Dynamic Island) opens straight to a new note for the book you are reading. The guide on saving quotes from physical books walks through it step by step.

The free version holds up to 5 books and includes 20 page scans with text recognition in total. Deleting a note does not restore a used scan. Notes and the timer work offline without an account; sync is free after signing in. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks your full stats history, year in review and folder export. Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; you can leave your email below to hear when it is available. Until then, a pencil and a short key are all you need.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.